“Proper story’s supposed to start at the beginning. Ain’t so simple with this one”.
A kid wakes up from a long, peaceful sleep to find that he’s one of the only survivors of the “Calamity”. All that’s left are floating rocks and landmarks of the world he calls home. There is but one place he can feel safe, a symbol of hope, the Bastion. This Haven needs finishing.
I will say straight up that Bastion is the best downloadable game and also one of my top five games of 2011. It takes the Action RPG and strips out a lot of the complexities and everything that makes playing them something of a chore. It leaves the simplicity of slashing and shooting anything that moves but gives it new life through great artistic design, shorter levels, fantastic audio and a very unique way of telling a story. While it is not perfect, it stands as a shining example of one of the best in its genre.
The feature of Bastion that a lot of people talk about is the narration. Everything that you do in Bastion from the start has a sultry voiced accompaniment who details the story and actions of the Kid. It is a completely fresh idea and it works spectacularly. Not only is the voice acting superb — rivalling even the two Portal games in my opinion — but the way it is written and executed is done in such a way that you cannot believe that this has not been done before. It’s an RPG that has very little in the way of written words. Where other RPGs can often bombard you with page after page of text about every single event, item, enemy or location, Bastion does it through speech and all while you are still playing. Learning the story of the Kid while battling wave after wave of enemies definitely the way I want to tackle the “Arena Mode” so to speak. The voice is not just a guide; it is the old man telling you wondrous campfire stories that are nothing short of compelling. It’s clever, it’s witty and best of all it really helps the pace of the gameplay.
Speaking of gameplay — hacking, slashing and shooting through the large number of levels never grows old. The combination of the simple controls, the downright beautiful graphics and the aforementioned audio brings you in and keeps you playing right to the end. Enemies are varied too ranging from pickaxe wielding ghost like creatures and deadly birds to well… What is that huge burrowing monster? Weapon loadouts are fun to experiment with too. Do you go with a heavy melee weapon and quick firing duel-pistols? Or balance it with a machete and a bow? The inventory choices matter too because while playing I found myself taking down enemies at long range only to be suddenly ambushed by a group of Gasfellas and I was too slow to take them out with the bow and too weak to be useful with the machete! I had to pick my spots carefully, dodging and countering with the shield. Fighting monsters is a never ending struggle in Bastion and it’s gloriously fun.
Bastion’s hub world is built up as you play through the story. From the start you unlock a place to switch loadouts and select abilities. Eventually you gain a mini-achievement centre to help give you more XP and an intriguing building that lets you activate powers of the “Gods” called Idols. You are allowed to pick and choose which Idols you can use once they are collected, they are there to make the game harder but give you rewards for leaving them on. One such Idol you obtain early in the game increases enemy strength but you will gain more XP for enemies killed. It is an excellent risk/reward system that makes tailoring the game to those who might find it too easy.
There are a few sore points though. When using ranged weapons or throwing one of your melee weapons there is an automatic targeting system which tends not target what you expect or just switch between targets too randomly. It unfortunately happens too often and can get a little frustrating when surrounded by enemies or facing one of the trials. While it is not as much of a problem if you are playing the PC version where you have the option of using a mouse and keyboard to manually aim, there is no such choice for 360 players besides using the right stick to defend which can feel a bit unintuitive especially if you’re trying to counterattack multiple enemies. You can switch between targets but you will often find yourself too surrounded for this to be effective. The other gripe I have is you only have one save slot so if you want to restart the game for some reason you lose your current save.
I cannot review Bastion without mentioning the soundtrack. It is no wonder Steam users can buy the soundtrack along with the game. My philosophy that the role audio plays in immersing the player into the experience definitely rings true here. Each location has its own theme which makes each new stage as memorable and varied as the last. The tunes are catchy to the point I found myself humming along to them after playing! There is however one song, belonging to an important discovery in the game which is easily the best song in a video game in 2011 — “Build That Wall”. The simplicity of using an acoustic guitar and some beautiful sounding vocals make it one of the most unforgettable parts of the game. Even if you are not into video game music, Bastion’s soundtrack is not to be missed.
Upon finishing the game you unlock New Game+ to go back with the same abilities and level to find the rest of the objects or complete an achievement you missed — and trust me, you will go back for the second ending. Bastion is a phenomenal debut from Supergiant Games and one that deserves attention. It is not perfect, but it is a fresh take on the genre. Expect to finish this one first time in 7-8 hours. No hesitation in awarding it…
15/16 bits
Related posts:
